Hemric Brings Home Runner-up Finish at Kansas, Leads JRM Trio of of Top-10 Finishes

10/17/2020

Allstate Parts Bass Pro Shops Black Rifle Coffee Brandt Daniel Hemric Justin Allgaier Michael Annett News Noah Gragson Poppy Bank Race Report TrueTimber

Daniel Hemric earned a runner-up finish in Saturday night's NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway while Michael Annett and Justin Allgaier rounded out the trio of top-10 finishes for JR Motorsports.

Race Results | Xfinity Series Points

Race 30 of 33: Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway
Track Specs: 1.5-mile tri-oval / 200 laps

Weather: Clear; 59 degrees

Race Winner: Chase Briscoe

 

Hemric's finish: 2nd 

Annett's finish: 8th 

Allgaier's finish: 10th 

Gragson's finish: 36th  


Daniel Hemric

Daniel Hemric overcame being two laps down midway through Stage One of Saturday evening’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Kansas Speedway to earn a hard-fought second-place finish behind the wheel of the No. 8 Poppy Bank John Andretti Tribute Chevrolet. The result is Hemric’s fourth consecutive top-five finish and the second time he has finished in the runner-up position in 2020. The strong second-place effort also moves the No. 8 team to seventh in the owner’s standings, just 23 points behind the fourth and final cutoff position with two races remaining in the Round of 8.

Stage One Finish: 33rd     

Honoring the life and legacy of John Andretti for the second time this season, Hemric lined up for the 200-lap event from the third position after the field was set via NASCAR’s mathematical formula earlier in the week. After initially being caught in a three-wide situation on the opening lap, Hemric settled in to the fifth position and remained there through a series of early caution periods. The driver of the Poppy Bank John Andretti Tribute Chevrolet continued to fight inside the top five until a loose-handling condition shuffled the JR Motorsports driver back to eighth just prior to the competition caution being displayed on lap 25.

Opting to stay out with the rest of the race leaders, Hemric took the lap-29 restart from the ninth position after utilizing the new choose rule to line up on the inside for the restart. Hemric continued to battle inside the top 10 once back under way until a flat left-front tire entering Turn 3 on lap 32 sent the Poppy Bank John Andretti Tribute Chevrolet into the outside retaining wall. Hemric subsequently was forced to make an unscheduled pit stop under green for four tires and repairs as a result of the flat tire and damage sustained from contact with the wall. Returning to the track two laps behind the race leaders, Hemric patiently rode around for the final laps of the opening stage to take the green-and-white checkered on lap 45 in the 33rd position. 

Stage Two Finish: 15th        

During the stage-ending caution, crew chief Taylor Moyer made the strategy call to keep Hemric out on the track to take the wave-around to get back to just one lap down. This decision was made in the hopes that a quick caution would come out with Hemric in the free-pass position, allowing him to get back onto the lead lap. Taking the green flag for the start of Stage Two in 31st, the 2019 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year was indeed scored in the free-pass position, and the fortuitous caution Moyer was strategizing for did come out before the field could complete the 51st lap. 

Now back on the lead lap, Hemric went to work, methodically maneuvering his way through the field and needing just 13 laps to race back into the top 15. The driver of the Poppy Bank John Andretti Tribute Chevrolet maintained his top-15 track position throughout the final 17 laps of Stage Two, despite reporting to Moyer that he had developed a tight-handling condition from the center to the exit of the corner. Although not handling to his liking, Hemric was able to take the green-and-white checkered flag on lap 90 in the 15th position.

Final Stage:  

Moyer took the opportunity prior to the beginning of the final stage to bring Hemric back to pit road for four tires and a chassis adjustment in the hopes of alleviating the tight-handling condition. Returning to the track in 13th for the start of the final stage, Hemric again climbed forward, taking advantage of the long green-flag run that followed to race back into the top 10 and up to the ninth position before stabilizing among the race leaders. The JRM driver continued to fight inside the top 10 until Moyer made the strategy call to bring Hemric to pit road to kick-off the lone round of green-flag pit stops on lap 143. Hitting pit road for four tires and another round of adjustments, Hemric ultimately cycled back out in the ninth position before a lap-155 caution period brought the field back together again.

The Kannapolis, N.C. native remained inside the top 10 through the ensuing restart but was shuffled back to 12th by the time the caution flag was displayed once again on lap 167. During this caution, Moyer made the call to bring Hemric back to pit road for the team’s final set of fresh tires and a chassis adjustment. Lining up in 12th following the stop for the lap-172 restart, Hemric narrowly avoided carnage as the field entered the first corner as a multi-car wreck ensued during a four-wide battle directly in front of him. Dropping to the inside line, the driver of the Poppy Bank John Andretti Tribute Chevrolet was able to avoid all of the chaos to move back into the top 10.

Following a lengthy red flag for cleanup from the incident, Hemric, choosing the outside line, took the lap-177 restart from the 10th position. Once back under way the JRM driver made his move, needing just four laps to race back up to the fifth position and remained there until the final caution flag of the evening was displayed on lap 191. Choosing the outside line for the final restart on lap 196, Hemric found himself lining up directly behind race leader Chase Briscoe. Shoving Briscoe into Turn 1, Hemric took advantage of the outside line to charge into the second position by the time the field exited the second corner. Hemric held steady in second for the final three laps to secure his fourth consecutive top-five finish.

With the second-place result, the No. 8 team now moves to seventh in the owner’s standings, 23 points behind the fourth and final position with two races remaining to qualify for the Championship 4. 

Daniel Hemric, driver No. 8 Poppy Bank John Andretti Tribute Chevrolet team 

“What a resilient team. I can’t thank everyone on this No. 8 team enough. If you had told me we would’ve run second after we lost two laps, I wouldn’t have believed it. These guys don’t ever give up and it feels great to be able to come home with another solid finish and help us get closer to that goal of contending for this owner’s championship down in Phoenix. I also can’t thank Nancy (Andretti) and the entire Andretti family enough for their support in allowing us to run this John Andretti Tribute scheme again and giving it the strong run it deserves. Now it’s time to cheer on my teammate in this No. 8 Jeb (Burton) and hope we can keep this positive momentum going into the next two races of this round.”


Michael Annett

 

Michael Annett earned an eighth-place finish in Saturday night’s Kansas Lottery 300 for NASCAR Xfinity Series machines at Kansas Speedway, equaling his career-best mark for top-10 finishes with three races remaining in the season. Annett drove his No. 1 Allstate Parts and Service Chevrolet into the top 10 with 30 laps remaining and stayed there on the way to his 19th top-10 finish of the season. The Iowa driver remains 11th in the series standings.

Stage One Finish: 15th     

Starting the 200-lap event from inside the sixth row in 11th, Annett told crew chief Travis Mack that his Chevrolet Camaro was loose from the beginning and getting looser. Just 17 laps into the race, while running 12th, Mack called Annett to pit road under caution for a major chassis adjustment to help fix the handling issue, and Annett ran from 30th after the stop back to 17th before the competition caution waved at lap 25. With 20 laps remaining in the 45-lap Stage One, Annett climbed to 15th position and ran there until the green-checkered flag waved to end it. Under the caution flag at stage end, Annett told Mack that the adjustment had gone a little too far, but he was able to get a much better run on the bottom of the 1.5-mile speedway. Hitting pit road again, Annett took four tires, fuel and an air-pressure adjustment and his No. 1 pit crew clicked off a blazing stop to gain seven positions for the start of Stage Two.

Stage Two Finish: 11th       

Firing off from seventh position, Annett was able to stay in the top 10 until lap 64 and settled into 11th place at that point. Annett held that position until the end of Stage Two despite battling a handling issue that caused his car to over-rotate in the corners. After a lengthy discussion back and forth, Mack brought Annett back down pit road at stage end for four tires and fuel with no adjustments, sending his driver back out in 10th after another speedy pit stop. He would start the 110-lap final segment from there.

Final Stage:

The final stage got under way with Annett holding steady in 10th, but Annett soon lost a couple of positions as the field spread out. He was 11th at the halfway point and 13th a couple of laps later before coming back to 12th at lap 128. Annett continued to move forward from there, passing Ryan Sieg for 11th and rejoining the top 10 at lap 143 as green-flag pit stops began among the lead-lap cars. Three laps later, Annett hit pit road again for four tires, fuel and an adjustment, dropping off the lead lap in the process as Sieg stayed out for an extended stint. Sieg finally hit pit road at lap 153, which allowed Annett to regain the lead serial.

Four laps later, the caution waved for a spin in Turn 4, and having a set of tires left in the pits, Mack called Annett down to put them on, with an air-pressure adjustment as well. Annett rejoined the field in 11th place and took the green flag in 10th for the run to the checkered flag. Another caution waved at lap 169, and Annett stayed out, advancing to seventh position. Choosing the top lane for the restart, Annett moved up to fifth for the green flag. As the field roared toward Turn 1, a six-car crash erupted and brought out the red flag for more than 12 minutes. Once the field got going again, Annett fired off from sixth position and stayed in the top 10 until lap 192, when the caution waved for the final time on the evening. With his Camaro still not handling to his liking, Mack called Annett down pit road for scuffed tires and an adjustment, sending him back out in 11th. When the green flag waved with four laps remaining, Annett quickly gained two positions to ninth and swept to eighth place with two to go and he finished there at the checkered.

Chase Briscoe won the race, with JRM’s Daniel Hemric, Sieg, Justin Haley and Austin Hill the top five. Josh Williams was sixth, with Brett Moffitt, Annett, Brandon Jones and JRM’s Justin Allgaier the remainder of the top 10.

Michael Annett, driver No. 1 Allstate Parts and Service Chevrolet team

“Travis (Mack, crew chief) made a good call on tires late in the race, and we just have to figure out how to be able to restart wide-open for next week at Texas. Our Allstate Parts and Service Chevrolet was pretty good at times tonight, and our pit crew guys did a great job. We gained positions every time we pitted tonight. We tied our mark from last year for top-10 finishes, and we have three races left to set a new one. The first chance for that will be at Texas.”


 

Justin Allgiaer

Justin Allgaier, driver of the No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Camaro, came home with a hard-fought 10th-place finish in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Kansas Speedway after being involved in a late-race multi-car incident. The effort was his 17th top-10 result of the season and enough for him to move up to second in the NXS Playoff standings. He’ll head to the second race in the Round of 8 of the playoffs 11 points above the cutoff line for the Championship 4.

Stage One Finish: 7th     

Allgaier rolled off seventh for the 200-lap race and was running in the ninth position when the first caution of the race came out on lap 11. He radioed to the team that the BRANDT Camaro was tight on landing and free off the corners. Restarting 10th after choosing the outside line, he was able to avoid the melee when a wreck ahead of him ensued, bringing out the caution yet again. Back under green, Allgaier lost a couple positions but drove his way back up to ninth before the field was slowed for the competition caution at the completion of lap 25.

Under the yellow flag, Allgaier reported to crew chief Jason Burdett that the No. 7 Chevy was tight in and free off the corners. Staying out, Allgaier restarted inside the top 10 on lap 29 and fought through the tough-handling condition to race his way to seventh before the green-and-white checkered flag waved to end Stage One.

Stage Two Finish: 7th

Prior to the start of Stage Two, Burdett and the team made a big round of adjustments to the BRANDT Camaro during the pit stop for four tires and fuel to try to help with the handling issues. Allgaier took the green flag for the second stage in ninth on lap 51, but another on-track incident shortly after the restart brought out the yellow flag. The Illinois native reported that the BRANDT Chevy fired off much better that run and lined up eighth for the restart. This time the No. 7 Camaro was freer than the previous run as Allgaier informed the crew that he was loose everywhere. Undeterred by the loose-handling condition, Allgaier continued to race inside the top 10, battling his way to seventh before the conclusion of Stage Two on lap 90.

Final Stage:

During the stage break, Burdett called Allgaier to pit road for four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment to continue trying to improve the handling on the BRANDT Chevy. Lining up in the eighth position on lap 96, it didn’t take long for Allgaier to report back that there was no change in balance. Still, he continued to race inside the top 10 during what turned into a long green-flag run. He was closing in on the sixth position when cars began making their way to pit road for green flag stops on lap 144. Just two laps later, Allgaier made his way in to his pit stall for four tires, fuel and multiple adjustments.

Back out on track, Allgaier was scored in the eighth position and the field had almost cycled through pit stops when a caution flag waved for a spin on lap 156. Restarting eighth, Allgaier lost some ground to cars on fresher tires and dropped back to 11th before the field was slowed by the caution flag yet again. He relayed to Burdett that the BRANDT Camaro was loose in and off of the corners and tight across the center. The team took the opportunity to come to pit road for their last set of fresh tires and to take one more swing at an adjustment to the No. 7 Chevy.

On the restart, Allgaier was battling for position when he was involved in a multi-car incident that brought out the red flag. The damage to the BRANDT Chevy was minimal, so the team opted not to pit for repairs. Allgaier took the green flag inside the top 10 with 24 laps to go and battled four-wide in the closing laps following another late-race caution to take the checkered flag in the 10th position.

Justin Allgaier, driver No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet

“Tonight just wasn’t our night. I hate it for all the guys on this BRANDT Professional Agriculture team. They worked hard on adjustments and we had great pit stops all night long. We just couldn’t get a good handle on our Chevrolet. It was definitely not from lack of effort. We’ll go back to the shop and regroup and get ready to go for the win next weekend at Texas.”

 

 


 

Noah Gragson

Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Chevrolet, started from the pole and led for 13 laps before getting collected in a multi-car incident following a lap 14 restart in Saturday evening’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. After initially coming to pit road, it was determined that the damage was too severe for the No. 9 team to continue within the time limits for repairs that NASCAR delegates, relegating Gragson with a 36th-place finish. With the result, Gragson now sits eighth in the playoff standings, 33 behind the final cutoff position with two races remaining in the Round of 8.

Stage One Finish: 36th

Gragson lined up from the pole position after the field was set earlier in the week by NASCAR’s new mathematical formula. The No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Camaro jumped out to an early lead and showed strength as he drove away from second place until a lap 10 caution slowed the field. Deciding not to pit, Gragson chose to restart from inside the front row and set the pace for the ensuing restart.

Following the green flag on lap 14, the drivers from the second row took the leaders four-wide entering Turn 1, which proved costly as Gragson made contact with a spinning Austin Cindric, badly damaging the right front of his JR Motorsports Camaro. The yellow flag flew and Gragson came to pit road to assess the damage. The No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee crew went to work as they cut sheet metal away from the right front tire but ultimately ran out of time on NASCAR’s crash clock policy and were forced to end their day early, resulting in a 36th-place finish in the first race of the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Despite the result, Gragson trails the fourth and final cutoff position by 33 points heading into the second race in the Round of 8 next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

Noah Gragson, driver No. 9  Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Camaro SS

 

“We had such a fast Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/Black Rifle Coffee Camaro but unfortunately our race came to an end way too early. We have two more races in this round of the playoffs and they are both tracks that I have had success at in the past as I won a truck race in Martinsville and we’ve always had speed at Texas. We will hold our heads high this week and get ready for next week.

 

 

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XFINITY Series Schedule

  • March 30 01:30 PM ET
    ToyotaCare 250Richmond Raceway
  • April 6 07:30 PM ET
    NXS Spring Race at MartinsvilleMartinsville Speedway
  • April 13 01:30 PM ET
    Andy’s Frozen Custard 300Texas Motor Speedway
  • April 20 04:00 PM ET
    Ag-Pro 300Talladega Superspeedway
  • April 27 01:30 PM ET
    A-GAME 200Dover International Speedway

XFINITY Series Standings

After Dead On Tools 250

Martinsville Speedway | 10/28/2023
Results are not available.